BWO, "Chariots Of Fire" (2006)
What makes this new Bodies Without Organs song good: the classic bouncy, rubbery disco bassline that dares you not to punch the air in time with it. The lyric, which is joyously inspirational in a completely empty and meaningless way (we're going up, up, up, in a winged chariot! Where? Heaven? Are we dead? Feels good if we are, woo!). And, of course, that poptastic chorus: "Oh, oh, chariots of fire, higher and higher, ascending above!/Oh, oh, chariots of fire, share my desire, creation of love!" Like all naggingly catchy tunes, part of its charm is that it sounds vaguely like some other song -- in this case, the disco chestnut "Everlasting Love" -- while persuading you to forget that fact.
What makes it unspeakably great: the chorus is always sung twice. Whenever we go from the first to the second iteration, Martin does something very simple but mindbendingly amazing: he sings the "Oh, oh" just an octave higher. Other than illustrating the whole "higher and higher" conceit, this little trick inexplicably but completely lifts the song into a whole other stratosphere of brilliance. And then there's that short burst of pizzicato strings in the middle of the second verse, and, finally, when we get the chorus again at the end, the band throws in a counter-melody to accompany us as the song fades out: "It's a brand new day/Things will go my way/Every night I pray/Everytime I say..." As if they hadn't already done enough for us.
And what makes it a bit hilarious: at the 1:34 mark, it sounds like Martin is singing "If anus sirree/To call Virgin Mary."
What makes this new Bodies Without Organs song good: the classic bouncy, rubbery disco bassline that dares you not to punch the air in time with it. The lyric, which is joyously inspirational in a completely empty and meaningless way (we're going up, up, up, in a winged chariot! Where? Heaven? Are we dead? Feels good if we are, woo!). And, of course, that poptastic chorus: "Oh, oh, chariots of fire, higher and higher, ascending above!/Oh, oh, chariots of fire, share my desire, creation of love!" Like all naggingly catchy tunes, part of its charm is that it sounds vaguely like some other song -- in this case, the disco chestnut "Everlasting Love" -- while persuading you to forget that fact.
What makes it unspeakably great: the chorus is always sung twice. Whenever we go from the first to the second iteration, Martin does something very simple but mindbendingly amazing: he sings the "Oh, oh" just an octave higher. Other than illustrating the whole "higher and higher" conceit, this little trick inexplicably but completely lifts the song into a whole other stratosphere of brilliance. And then there's that short burst of pizzicato strings in the middle of the second verse, and, finally, when we get the chorus again at the end, the band throws in a counter-melody to accompany us as the song fades out: "It's a brand new day/Things will go my way/Every night I pray/Everytime I say..." As if they hadn't already done enough for us.
And what makes it a bit hilarious: at the 1:34 mark, it sounds like Martin is singing "If anus sirree/To call Virgin Mary."
posted by Brittle-Lemon at
3:50 PM
4 Comments:
I'm still deciding on this one and how I compare it to Juggernaut, the other "up" song I have heard.
By
xolondon, at 10:31 AM
"Juggernaut" doesn't talk about a knighted anus; therefore "Chariots" wins.
By
Brittle, at 5:24 PM
I'm still gobsmacked that there's a band called BWO: I guess we're all rhizomed out. What's next "Plane of Consistency" (which sounds like "Flag of Convenience")? Hey, I writing this from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands before I fly back to NZ. (I just had to tell you.)
By
Harvey Molloy, at 5:27 AM
It's no accident. Alexander Bard, the mastermind of the group, has published several books of philosophy in Sweden. I also almost met him once.
Yes, I read that you were in Rarotonga. Jea. Lous.
By
Brittle, at 12:38 PM
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